These crunchy baked chicken tenders are life changing! The secret to truly golden, truly crunchy baked breaded chicken is to toast the breadcrumbs in the oven first. Bonus: No dirty fingers with my quick crumbing technique!
This is a reader-favourite recipe included by popular demand in my debut cookbook “Dinner”!
Really crunchy Baked Chicken Tenders
There is no feel-good story behind these crunchy Oven Baked Chicken Tenders. Quite simply, I am yet to meet anything deep fried that I didn’t love, but a) my waistline can’t afford the real thing every time I feel like it; and b) I reserve deep frying for “special occasions”. Because… well, you know.
Mess, oil wastage, gluey fingers.
Waistline. Bottom expansion.
Etc etc.
It also irritated me no end that the breadcrumbs always came out splotchy, no matter how much oil I used.
So this is how I make baked crumbed chicken.
Baked breaded chicken – my way
Toast the breadcrumbs in the oven for just a few minutes. This is the path to truly golden, truly crunchy baked breaded chicken even with a short bake time (max 20 minutes for chicken tenders). PS Much MUCH easier than pan frying!
One dredge batter – the usual process for crumbing is flour then egg then breadcrumbs. For this quick ‘n easy recipe, I combine the egg with flour plus mustard and mayo for flavour + oil (attempt to replicate deep fried) to make a thick batter in which the chicken is dredged. This stuff is great glue for the breadcrumbs!
Clean fingers! Use tongs to transfer the batter slathered chicken into the breadcrumbs. Sprinkle over breadcrumbs to cover, press down to adhere. Transfer to tray. Marvel at clean fingers!!
Give it a light spray of oil, bake for 15 minutes and voila! This is what you get:
LOOK HOW GOLDEN THEY ARE!! Just imagine that crunch when you bite into the juicy chicken inside!
Dipping Sauces
It’s pictured above with a Honey Mustard Dipping Sauce. Just like Maccers. Only homemade. 🙂
Other Dipping Sauces: Try the Pink Steak Sauce from the Beef Kebabs, Sweet and Sour Sauce, Thousand Island, Tartare or even a classic Seafood Cocktail Sauce.
– Nagi x
Watch how to make it
This recipe features in my debut cookbook Dinner. The book is mostly new recipes, but this is a reader favourite included by popular demand!
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Crispy Oven Baked Chicken Tenders
Ingredients
Breadcrumb
- 1 1/2 cups panko breadcrumbs (Note 1)
- Oil spray
Batter
- 1 egg
- 1 tbsp mayonnaise
- 1 1/2 tbsp dijon mustard (or other mustard)
- 2 tbsp flour
- 1/2 tsp salt
- Black pepper
Chicken
- 500 g/1 lb chicken tenderloins (or breast cut into 2/3″ / 1.5cm thick slices, lengthwise)
- Oil spray
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 200°C/390°F (180° fan-forced).
- Toast panko – Spread panko on a baking tray, spray with oil (spray vertically to avoid blowing the panko off the tray), then bake for 3 to 5 minutes until light golden. Transfer to bowl.
- Place a rack on a baking tray (not critical but bakes more evenly).
- Dredge batter – Place the Batter ingredients in a bowl and whisk with a fork until combined. Add the chicken into the Batter and toss to coat.
Crumbing (see video & photo in post)
- Pick up chicken with tongs and place it into the panko bowl.
- Crumb – Sprinkle surface with breadcrumbs, then press down to adhere. Transfer onto baking tray. Marvel at clean fingers, repeat with remaining chicken.
- Spray & bake – Spray lightly with oil, sprinkle with a touch of salt (optional). Bake 15 minutes (medium) or up to 20 minutes if gigantic. Any longer = dried out chicken.
- Serve – Remove from oven and serve immediately, with Sauce of choice (Honey Mustard pictured, see Note 2) and sprinkled with fresh parsley, if desired.
Recipe Notes:
Nutrition Information:
Originally published April 2015, updated with new photos, video, words in post. No change to recipe, though some minor writing tidying up has been done.
More crunchy crumbed chicken
A crunchy golden crumb takes any chicken from bland to delicious!
LIFE OF DOZER
That hopeful sparkle in his eyes…. (it was false hope) (Oh wait, I lied. I gave him a bite!)
Just wondering when if you don’t specify in your recipes do I assume that oven temp is not fan forced? Thanks
Can I use seasoned bread crumbs instead of Panko for this recipe?
Just made for my husband. He loved them! Even better than fried! Juicy, crunchy and tasty!
Is the oven temp also 390 for baking?
Yes that’s correct Lindsey! N x
So easy and came out great! Thank you!
Hi. Love your recipes. Can these chicken tenders be frozen after cooking? Thx
What could I use as a substitute for the egg component?
My go-to lunch staple for lockdown! This is hands down the best chicken tenders recipe. I don’t even bother with my air fryer now. It’s super simple and I love the honey mustard sauce. Thanks for delivering the goods again Nagi!
Literally searched for crispy baked chicken tenders/fingers last night, found your recipe, made it – WOW! What a keeper – it’s my fav chicken tender recipe now. I will definitely make again and again. Using a batter is genius. So glad I found this. Thanks!
I’ve made these twice now and the whole family including the toddler love them! They are amazing with some homemade peppered white gravy!
was a hit everyone loved it, best of all its so simple.
I’m so glad it was a hit Rach, that’s awesome!! N x
Is there a sub for the mustard? I would love to try these but everyone in our household hates mustard…
Hi Amber, it’s not overpowering but you can just leave it out if you prefer. N x
You nailed it!
I really want to make this tonight but I don’t have spray oil. Is it really needed or can I substitute it with something else?
You can drizzle oil through the toasted breadcrumbs, that will work. Use your fingers to mix through for best coverage using less oil. Spray is the best for even coverage, that’s all 🙂 Don’t skip the oil, less the crumbs won’t go nice and golden, they are splotchy and pale!
Easy. Tasty. SO crunchy. And the honey mustard sauce is incredible! No leftovers with this amazing dish!
Holy wow!!! Total game changer to toast the panko and do the “base” nice and thick! Definitely the best breaded chicken I have ever made!
So easy to make. Loved it
No mess and so tasty!
This was a great base recipe with helpful tips! I will say I deliberately made softer tenders (still crispy, just mom has trouble with truly crunchy foods). I also marinated the chicken the night before in buttermilk + hot sauce. The toasted panko is great, and gets you the right color normally absent from baked tenders.
Served with a wedge salad with tomato, homemade blue cheese, and crispy onions.
These are amazing! I’ve tried with both whole wheat and gluten free Panko, and it’s perfect either way! My boyfriend and I always make this when we want a dinner that’s quick and easy but still fun to throw together. Tonight we made them (for the 3rd time!) and used them as the chicken for chicken and waffles!! So good!
Can I freeze them if I make a big batch? Freeze them raw or cooked….please advice..Thank you
Hey N these tasted delicious and crunchy i just really struggle getting the right cooking times. I made chicken breast and I cut into it to eat and it was still pink inside everywhere after cooking for 20mins. I sliced them in half as well like suggested. I had to put them in the oven for a good 10-15 more mins. Can you give me some tips on this? I just purchased a new digital meat thermometer as well.
Hi Jay, were they large in size/thickness? N x
They were long but thick no